transcript

Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
[00:30] This program is supported by you, our viewers, and our partners.

Speaker 3:
[00:36] Will the Spirit of God ever lead us into a hard place? See, everything that's hard is not the devil. Sometimes God leads us in a hard place because we have to learn how to be overcomers. I'm Joyce Meyer. I've seen God's power transform my own life, and He will do it for you. First Corinthians 2.15. The spiritual man tries all things. He examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things. That means really, and you don't want to go around distrusting everybody, but neither should you open up your whole life to somebody that you don't really know and trust them with your information and your secrets. They need to prove first that they're a faithful friend. And He said the spiritual man discerns all things. It is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one. He can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or praise or get an insight into him. And that's true, if you're around somebody truly spiritual, if you don't really understand spiritual things, you just think they're wacky. Because everything about the Christian walk is upside down from what the world says it should be. It doesn't have to be difficult. We have three weapons that probably are rarely used, that we should use on a regular basis. The Word of God, the Name of Jesus, and the Blood of Jesus. The Word of God, the Name of Jesus, and the Blood of Jesus. These weapons are offensive weapons. We can use them aggressively to go after the devil when he's attacking us, or maybe to keep him in his place which is under our feet according to the Word. And we also have the armor which God supplies. And with it we defend ourselves. The armor does us no good however though if we don't wear it. Now the Word of God, we talk so much about the Word. Know the Word, study the Word, pray the Word. But I don't even know how to tell you how important the Word is. And that you believe the Word of God more than you believe anything else. And you can't, even once you know it, to keep yourself fresh in it, you have to go over it and over it. And sometimes hear the same thing over and over and over again. When your pastor or your teacher starts to teach on something and maybe you've got it underlined in your Bible, don't smugly think, I know that. You can color in your Bible all day and that doesn't mean you know anything. The only way that we know something is if we're doing it on a regular basis. So use it in prayer, confess it out loud, meditate on it, sing it. God's Word has power and authority inherent in it. That's what makes it different. It's got power in it. Even like you sitting and listening to me teach this morning, this is different because I'm teaching you the Word of God and God's anointed me to do that. And the Bible says the anointing destroys the yoke of bondage. So if you hear the Word from someone that's actually anointed to preach the Word, if you sit and you really listen and you believe it, it can break bondages off of your life just sitting there and just being in this atmosphere with other people who have God's anointing on their life. I can guarantee the atmosphere here is better than any bar you could go into in town. And a Bible hangover is much better than the other kind. Praying the Word is good because when you're praying the Word, you're mentioning God's promises right back to Him. In your Word, you said, and that's what I expect because that's what you said. And that's not being irreverent. God's Word has power and authority. Jesus defeated Satan with the Word of God. And I'm going to take time to read this. Luke 4, 1 through 13. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan, and you don't want to miss this, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Will the Spirit of God ever lead us into a hard place? See, everything that's hard is not the devil. Sometimes God leads us in a hard place because we have to learn how to be. Where for 40 days, he was tempted by the devil. 40 days straight, tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry. And the devil said to him, see, he waits till you're down. Jesus is hungry, he's probably weak. This has been going on 40 days, he's probably really tired of it by now. Don't be surprised if the devil hits you when you're really tired, or when you've got three or four other things going on. The devil said to him, if you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Well, he was attacking his identity. Well, if you're the son of God, then do this miracle. And Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone. The devil took him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said, I will give you all their authority and splendor. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. Do you know that the devil can make people wealthy? I mean, you know, there's all kinds of wicked people in show business or the music business, and they've got millions and sometimes billions of dollars, and that's not because they're obeying God. The devil's doing it, he's making it. But how do most of them end up? On drugs, alcoholics, health broken down, taking pills, and it's pitiful the people that we've lost that have such tremendous talent because of what they were doing to their bodies to be able to keep doing what they were doing. Jesus answered, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Because Satan had said to me, if you worship me, I'll give you all this. And see, the thing is, Jesus didn't need all of it. And to be honest, we don't either. We can be quite happy. Anyone in this room could be quite happy with a little less than what you have if you wanted to. Don't ever get into, don't ever get unhappy over money. We had a situation this week where we had ordered something online, a piece of glass, to replace our kitchen table, because it's got a glass top, and it's almost 20 years old, and so it had quite a few scratches on it, and couldn't be buffed out. So we found a place online, and somebody ordered it for us, and the information they were given wasn't really accurate, or at least he didn't understand it right. Long story short, when we got the glass, it was almost black, and it was such a dark gray. It was almost black. And it turns out they wouldn't take it back. They wouldn't refund our money. And we fussed over that for two or three days, and I just said this morning to my daughter, don't waste any more time on this. If they're cheating us, God will take it away from them, and he'll get it back to us, no matter how many hands it has to go through before it gets here. So, don't let Satan use... I mean, there's a lot of things like that in the world today. A lot of dishonest people, they don't do what they said they were going to do. And don't let it steal your peace, just trust it to God, like Jesus did. He trusted everything and himself to God who judges fairly. And God will get that back to us some way, somehow, and they'll lose it, because they took it from me, from us. It is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here. So two times he's attacking his identity in Christ. And if there's anything that the devil likes to do, it's make you feel bad about yourself. And then hopefully to get you to say something bad about yourself out of your own mouth. Let me tell you, that's one of the worst things that you can do. You don't want to say, I'm stupid, I'm dumb, I don't ever do anything right. I'm this, I'm that. You only say what God says about you. And He says, you're precious, you're loved unconditionally. He shouts and sings over you with joy. Amen. He protects you, he keeps you going in and you're coming out. He gives you favor, you're the apple of his eye. I just wrote a book on what a masterpiece we are. And when you really look and make a list of all of the good things that God says about you, and you can't find one place where He says anything bad about you. Not one. Wow. And those are the things we need to refresh ourselves in those things. So when the enemy comes and starts lying to you, you can say, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I'm a new creation. Old things have passed away. All things are made brand new. I've been redeemed. I've been reconciled. I'm sanctified. I'm justified. You're messing with the wrong person because God is my daddy. Amen. Friede has written, He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. Jesus answered and He said, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. The devil was quoting him scripture. He said, You can throw yourself down from here because God has said, He will give His angels charge over you and blah, blah, blah. And he said, but the Bible says, Don't test God. We don't want to do things presumptuously, assuming that God will take care of us. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna give my car away and I just believe God will give me another one. Well, you might end up walking to work. Sometimes, when people are first introduced to faith, they think they can just believe God for anything and get it. And that's not even really what faith is for. More than anything, faith is not to believe yourself out of every discomfort and trouble, but to believe God while you're going through them that they're gonna turn out all right, and you're gonna learn something. Everything hard you go through, you learn something that's gonna help you for the rest of your life. Some of the things that I've learned that have helped me the most, I learned when I was not being treated well by somebody else that I worked for. A lot of the things. When the devil had finished all this tempting, now listen to this, he left him for another opportune time. So he didn't leave him permanently. He left him until he had another better opening. That's why we really can't be lazy and just kind of like airheads and not pay any attention to who we're hanging around with. You know, you sit at the lunch table and listen to people gossiping. You laugh at their dirty jokes and, you know, they're putting bad thoughts in your ideas in your head about other people that you work with and, you know, if you think that stuff doesn't affect you, it does. When you hear something bad about somebody else, even if you don't believe it, it will still put a question in your mind that will cause you to think about them a little bit differently. That's why you need to not be a garbage dump for the devil. You say, I don't want to hurt their feelings. Well, I'd much rather hurt somebody's feelings than to have them hurt my spiritual life. The Bible says that we are to lean on the Word, put hope in it. It's a hiding place for us, a light to our path. It revives us, is settled forever in heaven. We should confirm our life to it. It's the only thing that divides soul and spirit, and it is truth. God has exalted His Word and His name above all else, and He has exalted His Word even above His name, Psalm 138, too. I love that. So even above His name, He's lifted His Word above that. So it kind of sounds like that's the most important thing, the Word of God. Joshua 1, 5-9. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. He didn't say, you go be like Moses. He said, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. So if you ever have to take somebody else's place in something, you don't need to go into it trying to be just like them. You need to be yourself because it's God that's going to get the thing done, not you trying to be like somebody else. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Don't turn from it to the right or the left that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. We won't be prosperous and successful just because we underline all those scriptures in the Bible. But we read the book to learn, yes, the promises of God, but also what God wants us to do. And real victory only comes after doing the right thing. People are gamblers who think they can do the wrong thing and get a right result. But investors do what's right up front, believing they'll get a good return later on. It's not enough to know the word, we must use the word. It is a weapon that has power and authority. And it's been given to you. It will get God's attention and the devil's attention. God comes to our rescue and Satan trembles in fear. Amen. With God's word, you are armed and dangerous. Now, what about using the name of Jesus? At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow. It's the name above every other name. Philippians 2 10. That in and at the name of Jesus, every knee should and must bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth. Jesus said, I will do whatever you ask in my name. And the Amplified Bible brings out something very great about what that means. He says, when we use the name of Jesus, we're presenting to God all that Jesus is. So I'm not asking God to do this because I've been good. I'm asking in Jesus' name and presenting all that Jesus is and I believe in him. I don't believe I'm good, but I believe he's good.

Speaker 4:
[18:30] Amen?

Speaker 3:
[18:32] I assure you most solemnly, I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do and he will do even greater things than these because I go to the Father. And I will do, I myself will grant whatever you ask in my name, presenting all that I am, so that the Father might be glorified through the Son. Yes, I will grant, I myself will do for you whatever you ask in my name, presenting all that I am. So his name embodies everything that he is. And even when Jesus ascended on high, he said, you're going to be better if I leave because if I leave, I can send the Holy Spirit. Well, what makes that better? Well, the Holy Spirit can be everywhere all at once. And Jesus was in a human body like us. He couldn't minister to everybody in this room at one time. He had to just help individual people like we do. And there's so many examples in here of even the apostles using the name of Jesus and healing people and just all kinds of wonderful things. How much are we asking to do? How much are we asking God to do that He wants us to do? God told me not, it's been a while ago, but He said stop asking me to do things that you could easily do and just don't want to. Oh, God, please send someone to pay Mary's rent this month. She doesn't have the money to pay her rent, and they're threatening to evict her. Well, I wonder if you might have the money. Well, but I'd have sacrificed if I did that. You say, well, I don't have the money. Well, how about if you open your mouth and go talk to three, four, however many, five, six people you need? So-and-so is having a problem. She's behind on her rent. How about if we all get together and help her? I remember somebody here one telling me one time that they were praying for a girl that had moved here from out of town to go to work for a new mattress because she did not have the money to buy a mattress yet and she was sleeping on the floor. And I thought, I wonder how many of you it would take that are praying for her to get together and split the cost of a mattress. A mattress is not that expensive. So let's start thinking a little bit differently about these kinds of things. And when you hear of a need, be a little creative and ask, is there a way I can meet this need? Or is there a way that I can help? A man that we know a few years back, he and his wife knew a widow whose house was paid for, but she couldn't afford to pay the taxes on it. And that, that happens a lot with elderly people. And so he said, we were, we don't have the money by ourselves to do it, but we were wondering if, wondering if you would contribute. And they asked Danny if he wanted to contribute. Bottom line short, it only took four people, and her taxes were paid. And she didn't have to worry about it. And we did that for three or four years in a row. So, don't assume you can't do things before you ask God if there is a way you can do it. I can't tell if you like this or not. You're all pretty straight-faced. Now, you'd have a different look on your face if I was talking about what you're going to get. One day, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. And when he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. But Peter looked straight at him, and so did John. And Peter said, look at us. This is kind of an interesting. Look at us. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. And Peter said, silver or gold, I do not have. But what I do have, I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. See, Peter said, look at us, because he knew that he was the vehicle that God was going to use to work through to heal that man. Do you realize that God always works through people? When we pray for God to send somebody money, or to pay the rent, or to do whatever, He's got to find a person He can work through. And if you won't do it, He will find somebody to do it, but you'll miss a blessing. Who is stronger, you or the devil? You can bind the strong man and he won't be able to plunder your goods. I don't think there's anything wrong at all within the morning when you say your prayers, just saying. I bind Satan and all of his evil spirits. In Jesus' name, you have nothing to do with me, and you will not make anybody in my family sick, or cause any accidents, or steal our joy, or our peace. Be more proactive, you know. Don't wait till he's beat your head off for three days, and then say, I need prayer. Okay? All right. Well, I appreciate you being with us today, and we're going to continue along these same lines tomorrow. So I pray that you'll tune in again tomorrow and get the rest of this teaching.

Speaker 4:
[25:04] Some days feel like a storm you never saw coming. Life spins out of control. Worries, responsibilities, heartache. You're doing your best to stay strong, but the battles never seem to stop. But what if the battles were never meant to be yours?

Speaker 3:
[25:23] You know, the moment I stopped fighting and trusted God with the battle, everything began to change. I wrote, Your Battles Belong to the Lord, for anyone who feels worn out from trying to fix everything on your own. Because when you surrender the fight to God, you don't lose.

Speaker 5:
[25:40] Now, I'm reminded that everything that I've ever gone through, he's always been my protector. He's always made a way where I saw no way.

Speaker 6:
[25:49] He's building me for such a time as this through my set of circumstances, and getting me to the other side to show his power and his glory.

Speaker 3:
[25:58] This book will help you stop carrying what God never asked you to carry, and learn how to trust him right in the middle of real life.

Speaker 7:
[26:06] Knowing that I'm not in control of everything, and just that stress relief of giving everything to him, and having that peace that surpasses understanding.

Speaker 4:
[26:16] Request Joyce's book, Your Battles Belong to the Lord, and bring hope and encouragement into your life. And when you do, we'll include growing in spiritual maturity, showing you how to grow in faith, peace, and strength. Get both books for your gift of $35 or more. Call us today at 1-800-331-8000, or visit us online at joycemeyer.org, or use the QR code on your screen.

Speaker 3:
[26:38] Well, when you surrender your battles to the Lord, it doesn't mean you do nothing. God does his part, and you do yours by growing spiritually. That's why I wrote Growing in Spiritual Maturity, to help you build a strong everyday relationship with God. And remember, your faithful support helps share this message with others. To your generosity, lives are being changed. Hope is restored, and people find freedom. Every gift matters. Give as God leads you.

Speaker 4:
[27:08] As a thank you for your gift today, we want to send you Joyce's books, Your Battles Belong to the Lord, and Growing in Spiritual Maturity. Together, they offer encouragement for the battles you face and guidance for growing spiritually in everyday life. Request both books with your gift of $35 or more. Call us today at 1-800-331-8000, or visit us online at joycemeyer.org, or use the QR code on your screen.

Speaker 2:
[27:34] Ready to transform your story? Let's celebrate your style, quirks and potential.

Speaker 3:
[27:41] God has got a plan for you. I want you to get that tonight.

Speaker 2:
[27:46] Every journey is unique and God's hand is at work.

Speaker 8:
[27:50] We are talking about eternal transformation from the inside out.

Speaker 2:
[27:54] Come discover the beauty where struggles become strength as God moves you toward a life transformed. Today he's making all things new. Join us for the 2026 Love Life Women's Conference with Joyce and her guests Christine Kane, Lisa Harper and Worship with Natalie Grant and Hope Darst October 22nd through the 24th in Tampa, Florida.

Speaker 3:
[28:21] My story, your story, they are vital. Together, let's discover the beautiful road they can take. I really hope to see you there.

Speaker 2:
[28:30] Register now at joycemeyer.org. We hope you enjoyed today's program. We are so grateful to our JoyceMeyer Ministries partners who make this and all we do possible, including sharing God's Word and offering help to people in need all over the world. This program is supported by you, our viewers and our partners.